


what's left of me

by seoulthirsty



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: ChanSoo - Freeform, Fluff, Foul Language, Identity Issues, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Unbeta'd, although there will be angst, flirty chanyeol, im not a suspenseful person, im sorry, painfully shy but brave kyungsoo, you better not be here for a slow burn cause that’s not what my fics are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 17:59:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16686394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seoulthirsty/pseuds/seoulthirsty
Summary: Kyungsoo did not expect to be approached and propositioned in broad daylight after his fingers had been firmly attached to the handle of a claw machine for a good twenty minutes.He also didn’t expect to release all his inner turmoil to a stranger.A semi-lighthearted fic where-in Kyungsoo suffers an identity crisis. It'll have its dark moments.





	what's left of me

**Author's Note:**

> inspo from @fuckin_chansoo on twitter (these tweets - https://twitter.com/fuckin_CHANSOO/status/1030748578942279680 & https://twitter.com/fuckin_CHANSOO/status/1030748705589276672) thank u. unbeta'd.
> 
> and yes, the title of this fic was taken from the song "whats left of me" by nick lachey. LOL
> 
> initial chapter is short. updates will very, *very* likely be longer.

Without intent to seem dramatic, nothing could warm the inner chill Kyungsoo felt when he was fired from his job that morning. Sorry, scratch that. Career - the one thing most young people work towards for at least fifteen to twenty years of their lives. 

Not even the crisp burn of the cigarette in his mouth (smoking, a poor and newly acquired habit that made him effectively choke every time) could reheat him. There were obvious tear tracks on his reddened cheeks as he walked with one hand in his puffy coat, cigarette in the other, and his red backpack on his shoulders. He attempted to inhale another puff of smoke when he started to choke again, causing him to drop the stick and squish it angrily. 

Someone cleared their throat as they exited the storefront in front of him, causing him to look up at the sign and avoid their gaze when he realized they bared witness to his unreasonable anger towards the cigarette butt. Oh. He was in front of an arcade. 

Kyungsoo used to play in arcades when he was younger when they were less scarce than they were now. He didn’t grow up in Seoul, though, so he’d never seen this one before, and it was only a few blocks from his apartment.

He threw his plans to sulk out the window and opened the door to the arcade, a gush of heat hitting him in the face from the ventilation - a drastic change from the harsh cold outside. He shivered, welcoming the warmth.

Glancing around, Kyungsoo noticed only a few people loitering near the front. He could see a cluster of people gathered near the Pac Man machines and exactly one person playing the prize machines. To his surprise, there were more people than he would have thought (and they all seemed to be adults). 

Kyungsoo took his wallet out of his back pocket and put a few bills into the machine to get coins for the games. He could tell that this was an old arcade because they didn’t use those cards for the machines.

After grabbing his handful of coins, he strolled along the endless, straight line of claw machines, quietly passing a tall blonde man who was very focused on the Rilakkuma claw machine. He stopped when he saw a Gudetama plush machine. He couldn’t help the little hum of joy that escaped his throat when he saw his essential spirit animal. Momentarily, he imagined leaving with a handful of them.

 

That was wishful thinking. “Aaaaaah, seriously?” Kyungsoo muttered to himself, putting his last four coins into the machine. Now he remembered why he didn't play the prize games at arcades. Nothing ever came out of them and they were rigged. Fucking claw mach- 

“Want some help?” The tall blonde who was playing on Rilakkuma claw machine earlier was suddenly right next to him, causing him to jump out of his skin. It must have been quite obvious that this guy nearly gave him a coronary because he was all in Kyungsoo’s personal space, hand cupping his shoulder. He was talking, but Kyungsoo was too busy glancing at his hand. He effectively shrugged it off and narrowed his eyes at the guy in a slow forming glare, even if he was thinking to himself that he had huge fucking hands.

“Didn’t mean to scare you. I could win that Gudetama for you.” Kyungsoo’s gaze didn’t waver, causing the blonde to chuckle nervously. “Uh - I know the trick to these machines. Just tell me which one you want? I’ll even give you four more quarters.” He bargained, causing Kyungsoo to relax his face and take a step back, shrinking into his coat. Kyungsoo rubbed his face against the fabric to attempt to rid his face of tear stains. They were probably still there anyway.

“Want the eggs and sausage one,” Kyungsoo mumbled quietly into his coat, glancing up at the other. It was so quiet that it was unlikely that the man had heard him. He closed his eyes for a few moments, careless about how the plush would even be picked up - at this point, he’d spent all his coins on that shitty game and he just wanted something to show for it.

After a few moments of silence, Kyungsoo felt something soft on his face. He opened his eyes to see the plushie he asked for, which made him smile, eyes lighting up. 

Aaaand, the guy was looking at him with a pleased smile. Kyungsoo’s smile faded. He wasn’t happy right now and he was reminded of that with the momentary happiness winning the gudetama plush gave him. Ugh. 

“So,” The guy was interacting with him again. “I’m Park Chanyeol.” Chanyeol leaned forward, holding out the stuffed animal. “Can I kiss you?” Kyungsoo was shocked, mostly appalled that a stranger named Park Chanyeol thought he could just go around asking people, Kyungsoo of all of them, for a kiss? Is this the method of flirting people used now? Kyungsoo had half a mind to shove his foot in his mouth. 

Kyungsoo shuffled closer, eyes in slits as he glared. “You wanna fight me right now?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened before he let out a snort of what seemed like laughter. Kyungsoo’s face had been so serious. It took him a minute of knee-slapping and practically keeling over to recover. “I don’t want to fight you. You’re so tiny. A pipsqueak.” Kyungsoo grabbed the plushie from him angrily and - y- yeah, he was making it worse. “Sorry, again.” He held his hands up, smiling. “You are small though. I’m sure you know that. It’s not something you can get mad at. Just an observation.”

“Listen, thanks for the gudetama plush. A little advice though? Don’t...don’t use that pick-up line. It’s not smooth. It’s weird and creepy.” Kyungsoo poked his pointer finger into Chanyeol’s chest. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, backing Kyungsoo into the claw machine behind him, his hand on the glass. Was he really doing this kabedon shit right now-

“Honestly, I wasn’t talking seriously, but,” Chanyeol’s expression had changed into a serious one. His eyes were more narrow and he had this intimidating look about him that made Kyungsoo’s insides shiver. “I know that on the right person, it could work. Maybe if I had asked you like this, you would have been persuaded to say otherwi- oof!” Kyungsoo punched him in the stomach, sliding out from under his arm to back away. “That’s even more creepy. Persuaded? You’re sick!” He yelled for a dramatic touch, eliciting a laugh from the small crowd that appeared from behind Chanyeol.

“I should have just went home.” Kyungsoo sighed, taking the last two cigarettes out of his pack and lighting them, shoving them both in his mouth. “What an annoying guy.” As cliche as it sounded, if he hadn’t opened his mouth and said stupid things, maybe Kyungsoo would have asked for his number.

**Author's Note:**

> aaaah, ok, so it was short but you see the characters meet. what do you think of the way chanyeol was acting? i promise you, he's not really like that. lol
> 
> anyway, sometimes i think i'm witty or funny, but i assure you, i am not. feawjiofjewaifwa 
> 
> thanks for making it to the end of this CRAP? anyway, let me know what you think if you'd like. stay tuned. i know chaptered stories can be hard. x


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